Menopause hair protector

ABSTRACT

A protective cover maintains a hairstyle on a head of a woman while sleeping. The protective cover includes a flexible body that extends over the hairstyle on the head of the woman. The flexible body has a plurality of vents to allow heat and moisture to exit the flexible body, thereby preventing damage to the hairstyle.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of Provisional Patent Application No. 61/550,557, filed on Oct. 24, 2011, in the United States Patent & Trademark Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a head garment and more particularly a protective cover specifically designed for menopausal women.

During the night while sleeping, it can be difficult for women to maintain their hairstyles, which can be frustrating in the morning, especially for women with curly hair. Additionally, menopausal women often suffer hot flashes during the night, which causes their head to sweat and the hair closest to their scalp to dampen. Upon awaking, these women can experience tangled or damp hair, disheveled hair and discomfort from excessive heat, daytime fatigue due to uncomfortable sleep, and damaged hair due to friction from pillows. An effective solution to prevent these problems is necessary.

The protective cover can assist menopausal women with maintaining their hairstyle while sleeping at night. The present invention consists of a polyester flexible body with ventilation openings that are each covered by a polyester mesh material. The protective cap is designed to prevent damage to hairstyles during sleep, to relieve the discomfort associated with hot flashes that are common for menopausal women, and to prevent hair breakage associated with sleeping on cotton pillowcases. Non-menopausal women, teenagers, and children can also use the present invention at night.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Numerous innovations for hair protectors have been provided in the prior art that will be described. Even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, however, they differ from the present invention.

A FIRST EXAMPLE, U.S. Patent Office Document No. 3,327,720, Issued on Jun. 27, 1967, to Carmony et al. teaches a cap that can be placed over a lady's hairdo for protecting the hairdo during sleeping hours and which is made of a tubular form of light net porous material and has an inner liner shorter than the outer covering made of a high friction material such as a foam. The cap is made to tightly grip the head just below the hairdo and the foam lining is loosely disposed inside the porous outer covering so that it will conform to the hairdo, and adhere to the hairdo and will cause the hairdo to remain in place. The foam is attached to the outer covering along one upright seam and around the bottom periphery of the device only. An adjustment device is provided for changing the size of the outer covering by sliding a ring up and down near the top of the outer covering.

A SECOND EXAMPLE, U.S. Patent Office Document No. 3,446,214, Issued on May 27, 1969, to Eannarino et al. teaches an inflatable dual wall diaphragm hair retainer with ventilation between the hair and inner wall of the diaphragm provided by a vented material and strings or lace for securing the hair retainer to the head of the user.

A THIRD EXAMPLE, U.S. Patent Office Document No. 3,556,115, Issued on Jan. 19, 1971, to Benson teaches a coiffure protector formed from tulle netting or the like; having a stiffening material affixed to or encased in the sides to maintain the shape thereof, padding encased or affixed to the back to prevent the hair riding up, an adjustable band for varying the size of the opening and means for holding the protector in place on the head of the wearer.

A FOURTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Patent Office Document No. 3,561,455, Issued on Feb. 9, 1971, to Gregg teaches a hair protector that can be placed over a woman's hair style for protecting the hair while sleeping and cover hair rollers, etc., when hair is put up, asleep or awake, and which is made in three tubular panels, a top panel being of light, open weave material, an intermediate panel being of two ply construction with an inner layer being of foam material and an outer layer of smooth or slick material, and a bottom panel being of light net material. An elastic band is attached around the bottom of the lower panel to hold the protector on the head and provide lateral adjustment and a sliding ring is positioned around the top to provide vertical adjustment.

A FIFTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Patent Office Document No. 4,683,596, Issued on Aug. 4, 1987, to Cole teaches a curl keeping hair cap made of a substantially circular sheet of nonabsorbent air permeable material for permitting air circulation with a casing secured along the circular edge of the sheet and a drawstring having an elastic portion extending through the casing to permit adjustment of the hair cap to fit the contour of the face and neck of the wearer by gathering along the casing. The drawstring has tie ends which can be tied to each other to maintain the elastic portion of the drawstring in a stretched condition. The hair cap may be made of a single piece of nylon. A method of maintaining a hair permanent includes applying permanent curl solution to hair, rinsing the solution from the hair, and enclosing the hair in a substantially circular curl keeping hair cap of nonabsorbent air permeable material with a drawstring having an elastic portion to gather the cap and fit the contour of the face and neck.

It is apparent now that numerous innovations for hair protectors have been provided in the prior art that are adequate for various purposes. Furthermore, even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, accordingly, they would not be suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

AN OBJECT of the present invention is to provide a protective cover that avoids the disadvantages of the prior art.

ANOTHER OBJECT of the present invention is to provide a protective cover that is simple and inexpensive to manufacture.

STILL ANOTHER OBJECT of the present invention is to provide a protective cover that is simple to use.

BRIEFLY STATED, STILL YET ANOTHER OBJECT of the present invention is to provide a protective cover to maintain a hairstyle on a head of a woman while sleeping and suffering from menopausal night sweats. The protective cover includes a flexible body that extends over the hairstyle on the head of the woman. The flexible body has a plurality of vents to allow heat and moisture to exit the flexible body, thereby preventing damage to the hairstyle.

The novel features which are considered characteristic of the present invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of the specific embodiments when read and understood in connection with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The figures of the drawings are briefly described as follows:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a first embodiment of the present invention in use;

FIG. 2 is a top view taken in the direction of arrow 2 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front view taken in the direction of arrow 3 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a rear view taken in the direction of arrow 4 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a front perspective view of a second embodiment of the present invention in use;

FIG. 6 is a side view of the second embodiment per se;

FIG. 7 is an open plan view of a third embodiment of the present invention per se;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a fourth embodiment of the present invention per se; and

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a fifth embodiment of the present invention per se.

REFERENCE NUMERALS UTILIZED IN THE DRAWING

110 protective cover

112 head of woman 114

114 woman

116 flexible body of protective cover 110

118 vent in flexible body 116

120 fastening mechanism of protective cover 110

122 satin material of flexible body 116

124 ventilation opening for vent 118

126 polyester mesh material in ventilation opening 124

128 elastic band covered with stretch satin black material for

fastening mechanism 120

130 marginal edge of flexible body 116

132 first satin material strip on elastic band 128

134 second satin material strip on marginal edge 130

136 hair bonnet for flexible body 116

138 hair cap for flexible body 116

140 tie down strap for fastening mechanism 120

142 square shaped diagonally foldable hair scarf for flexible body 116

144 triangular shaped hair scarf for flexible body 116

146 tie down string of fastening mechanism 120

148 oblong shaped hair scarf for flexible body 116

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

As shown in FIG. 1 being a first embodiment, the present invention is a protective cover 110 to maintain a hairstyle (not shown) on a head 112 of a woman 114 while sleeping. The protective cover 110 includes a flexible body 116 that extends over the hairstyle on the head 112 of the woman 114. The flexible body 116 has a plurality of vents 118 to allow heat and moisture to exit the flexible body 116, thereby preventing damage to the hairstyle. The protective cover 110 further includes a fastening mechanism 120 for holding a marginal edge 130 of the flexible body 116 tightly about the head 112 of the woman 114, whereby the flexible body 116 will not fall off of the head 112 of the woman 114.

As shown in FIG. 2, the flexible body 116 is comprised of a satin material 122. The vents 118 are ventilation openings 124. The ventilation openings 124 vary in size 2-2.5 inches in diameter, shape and color and are located throughout the flexible body 116. The ventilation openings 124 have a size of 0.25 inch-0.5 inch in diameter.

As shown in FIG. 3, each ventilation opening 124 is covered with a black polyester mesh material 126. The polyester mesh material 126 in each ventilation opening 124 is secured to an inner surface of the flexible body 116. The fastening mechanism 120 is comprised of an elastic band 128 attached to the inner surface of the marginal edge 130 of the flexible body 116.

As shown in FIG. 4, the elastic band 128 is covered with a satin material strip 132. The outer surface of the flexible body 116 at the marginal edge 130 is also covered with a satin material strip 134. The flexible body 116 is a hair bonnet 136.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the protective cover 110 is a second embodiment, wherein the flexible body 116 is a hair cap 118. The fastening mechanism 120 is comprised of a pair of tie down straps 140 extending rearwardly from the hair cap 138. As shown in FIG. 7, the protective cover 110 is a third embodiment, wherein the flexible body 116 is a square shaped diagonally foldable hair scarf 142.

As shown in FIG. 8, the protective cover 110 is a fourth embodiment, wherein the flexible body 116 is a triangular shaped hair scarf 144. The fastening mechanism 120 is comprised of a tie down string 146 located along both edges of the triangular hair scarf 144.

As shown in FIG. 9, the protective cover 110 is a fifth embodiment, wherein the flexible body 116 is an oblong shaped hair scarf 148. The cover 110 has circumference of 15-16 inches.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of constructions differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodiments of a protective cover, accordingly it is not limited to the details shown, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention. 

The invention claimed is:
 1. A protective cover to maintain a hairstyle on a head of menopausal woman while sleeping comprising: a flexible body that extends over the hairstyle on the head of the woman, the flexible body having a plurality of vents to allow heat and moisture to exit the flexible body thereby preventing damage to the hairstyle, and a fastening means for holding a marginal edge of the flexible body tightly about the head of the woman, whereby the flexible body will not fall off of the head of the woman.
 2. The protective cover as recited in claim 1, wherein the flexible body is comprised of a stretch satin black material and in 15-16 inches in circumference.
 3. The protective cover as recited in claim 1, wherein the vents are ventilation openings in 2-2.5 inches in diameter.
 4. The protective cover as recited in claim 3, wherein the ventilation openings vary in size and are located throughout the flexible body.
 5. The protective cover as recited in claim 4, wherein each ventilation opening is covered with a polyester mesh material.
 6. The protective cover as recited in claim 5, wherein the polyester mesh material in each ventilation opening is secured to an inner surface of the flexible body.
 7. The protective cover as recited in claim 2, wherein the fastening means is comprised of an elastic band attached to the inner surface of a marginal edge of the flexible body.
 9. The protective cover as recited in claim 8, further comprising a first stretch satin black material strip affixed onto the elastic band.
 10. The protective cover as recited in claim 9, further comprising a second material strip affixed onto an outer surface of the flexible body at the marginal edge.
 11. The protective cover as recited in claim 1, wherein the flexible body is a hair bonnet.
 12. The protective cover as recited in claim 2, wherein the flexible body is a hair cap.
 13. The protective cover as recited in claim 12, wherein the fastening means is comprised of a pair of tie down straps extending rearwardly from the hair cap.
 14. The protective cover as recited in claim 1, wherein the flexible body is a square shaped diagonally foldable hair scarf.
 15. The protective cover as recited in claim 2, wherein the flexible body is a triangular shaped hair scarf.
 16. The protective cover as recited in claim 15, wherein the fastening means is comprised of two tie down strings located along either edge of the triangular hair scarf.
 17. The protective cover as recited in claim 1, wherein the flexible body is an oblong shaped hair scarf. 